BEIJING: China today acknowledged that it plans to build a "logistics centre" for its military in the African port city of Djibouti for its naval ships and troops on escort missions in the piracy-infested Gulf of Aden, bolstering its foothold in the strategic Indian Ocean region.
"China and Djibouti are discussing about a logistics centre. It is aimed to provide better facilities so that the personnel on Chinese vessels can get better rest and replenishments,"
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said responding to US claims that China is building its first military base in Africa to"extend its reach".
The logistics centre will enable Chinese vessels and personnel on escort duty to better fulfil international obligations especially on UN peacekeeping missions, Hong said.
Djibouti is strategically located near the world's busiest shipping lanes, controlling access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. It serves as a key refuelling and transshipment centre, and is the principal maritime port for imports to and exports from neighbouring Ethiopia.
Chinese defence ministry also came out with a similar reaction today. Hong said since 2008 China has dispatched over 60 vessels in 21 missions to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia for escort missions to counter piracy as per UN resolutions.
"During these operations we find they meet difficulties in getting rest and replenishment and supplies. Therefore we need to provide better service in this regard. China and Djibouti are friendly countries. Now we are having consultations on building up these logistics facilities," he said.
China also uses the Seychelles in Ocean as a logistics base saying that it is meant for supply and stopover for its anti-piracy missions. Beijing has also invested in two major ports - Hambantota and Colombo - in Sri Lanka.
In the Arabian Sea, China has taken over the Pakistani port of Gwadar as part of its development of the USD 46 billion China- Pakistan Economic Corridor.
China in the past has consistently denied building military bases outside its territory.
But with its first refurbished aircraft carrier in operation and with two more under construction,
analysts say that China is on the lookout for bigger port facilities in Asia and Africa. It also comes at a time China's outreach to Africa both in terms of trade and investments surpasses the US and India.
Analysts say that military base in Africa would be cheaper than temporary arrangements for docking ships at Djibouti. It comes with an airfield which would enhance Chinese military's intelligence gathering in Africa and parts of the Middle East enhancing Beijing's stature as a protector of African nations.
China has already cemented its foothold in the Ocean by signing contracts with the UN- backed International Seabed Authority (ISA) in 2011 to gain rights to explore polymetallic sulphide ore deposit in Indian Ocean over the next 15 years to explore 10,000 sq km of international seabed.

In this era of globalization , All countries are living there imprint of military powers so as to get some strategically advantage over one another .

The value location of Djibouti worries me a lot that why china wants to have imprint here ?

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Every great power tries to influence different regions to project their power in that region.
Yet India too have such many projections like China but their port at Djibouti hits our nerve.
Better for us to try to have such port at East or South China sea just like China is increasing its presence in Indian Ocean.
We barely have some military influence with small countries like Vietnam and Taiwan and our security agreement with Japan is only pact which gives us some capability to have a great presence. We need to go for a lot more.

China with this move have , have successfully taken care of one of the choke point for EU nations. With suez being monitored by Russia , only 3 more major chokepoints are left. Indeed those who captures Sea route will rule the World

Separately I posted the rail link from Port Djibouti to Addis Ababa that Chincese recently completed providing landlocked Ethiopia with improved railroad access to the sea. In 2011, Ethiopia accounted for 70% of the trade through the port of Djibouti.

Yet India too have such many projections like China but their port at Djibouti hits our nerve. Better for us to try to have such port at East or South China sea just like China is increasing its presence in Indian Ocean.

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The reason you don't have much interest under threat in this region. Your number 1 "rival" in this area happens to be your No.1 trading partner in this area too. In other words, your potential enemy is more interested in protecting your interest rather than threatening it.

More importantly, your no.1 "enemy" navy is checked by world No.1 navy in this area. They don't have spare fleet to threat you in this region.

We barely have some military influence with small countries like Vietnam and Taiwan and our security agreement with Japan is only pact which gives us some capability to have a great presence. We need to go for a lot more.

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The problem is everyone here wants to take a free ride of you. But your government is not stupid enough to do it.

Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh was quoted by Reuters on Wednesday as saying that China was expected to start work on the facility soon.

The Foreign Ministry said China had sent escort fleets to the Gulf of Aden and Somalia inrecent years, and these fleets had experienced difficulties that affected the "rest and reorganization of servicemen and the supply of oil".

In December, the Ministry of National Defense confirmed that China and Djibouti had reached agreement on the outpost. Military bases and support facilities for countriesincluding the United States and France have long been based in Djibouti.

Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf told Reuters, "We understand that some Western countries have worries about China's willingness to have military outposts outside of China." He said that Western countries should not be concerned.

Djibouti is a pivotal country in the Horn of Africa standing between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. It is a key transfer stop for international humanitarian missions, including those of the United Nations.

Yin Zhuo, director of the People's Liberation Army Navy's Expert Consultation Committee,estimated that a Chinese fleet patrolling waters in the region has to feed about 800 staffmembers every day. A single mission, which lasts on average for 120 days, places a huge demand on food and water supplies.

Chinese-built railway helps propel Ethiopia's industrialization drive
Source: Xinhua | 2016-10-02 18:06:11 | Editor: huaxiaChinese locomotive driver Liu Ji (R) trains his Ethiopian counterparts at a railway station in suburban Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Oct. 1, 2016. A Chinese-built railway linking the Ethiopian capital and the port of Djibouti is expected to help the landlocked African country improve access to the sea and speed up a burgeoning industrialization process. The railway, which is set to become fully operational on Oct. 5, will be Africa's first modern electrified railway. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese-built railway linking the Ethiopian capital and the port of Djibouti is expected to help the landlocked African country improve access to the sea and speed up a burgeoning industrialization process.

The railway, which is set to become fully operational on October 5, will be Africa's first modern electrified railway.

The full length of the railway is 752.7 kilometers, with a designed speed of 120 km per hour. With a total investment of 4 billion U.S. dollars, it is being constructed by the China Railway Group and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.

"The railway is constructed on the basis of Chinese railway technology standards while taking into account the national conditions of Ethiopia and Djibouti," said Zeng Deli, a project manager of the China Railway Group, to Xinhua.

It was designed and constructed in a most economical way, taking only six years for its final completion, which should be viewed as some kind of miracle even in China, Zeng said.

For the Chinese contractors, the construction of a railway with a designed speed of 120 km per hour is not difficult. But it takes nothing short of a great feat to complete it with no compromise on quality and timeliness when there are inadequate construction materials and technical staff in Ethiopia.

With careful planning and patient coordination, the Chinese firms managed to make sure construction materials imported from abroad arrived on time. To ensure good quality and no delay in construction, they even took the pains to manufacture the materials themselves, despite their higher cost.

For the Chinese firms, a lack of local technical personnel with adequate railway technology knowledge is a more serious problem.

For example, it took 20,000 workers to complete a specific section of the railway, and it would be impossible to have the posts filled all by Chinese, said Fu Xun, another project manager with the China Railway Group.

To tackle the challenge, the Chinese firms made the training of local technical workers a daily routine of their operations in Ethiopia. For the past few years, more than 15,000 local workers went through various training programs, thus ensuring enough manpower for railway construction and a talent reserve for future management of railway operations.

To protect its precious wildlife resources along the railway, the Ethiopian government set a high environmental protection protocol. To meet these high ecological standards, the Chinese companies did their best not to alter the original landscape along the railway. They also spent more than 4 million U.S. dollars to build overpasses specially designed for safe animal crossover.

The modern standard-gauge Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway runs parallel to a decrepit meter-gauge version built over 100 years ago by Europeans. Over 90 percent of Ethiopia's imports and exports, in particular energy and food, are made via the sea port of Djibouti. The capacity of the current road system has long been overwhelmed.

When the new railway becomes operational, transport time from Djibouti to the Ethiopian capital will be reduced from 7 days to ten hours.

Besides faster transport, the Chinese firms have an even greater ambition. That is, the railway will serve as a catalyst for Ethiopia's national economic development.

They put forward industrial planning recommendations to the Ethiopian government, including the establishment of industrial parks in key cities, so that better transport benefits will be ensured in the middle and long run.

The Ethiopian government endorsed the suggestions and put the railway into a key project category of its five-year national development plan. Industrial parks will be established in regional hub cities along the railway.

With improved transportation, the country will gradually transform an industrial model of exporting basic materials into one that focuses on deep processing. As a result, the country's industrialization level will be elevated.

The Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway is only one of many major projects currently under way in the framework of China-Africa cooperation.

Following the successful Johannesburg summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in December last year, China has been deepening and expanding the scope of its industrial capacity cooperation with Africa.

A local man takes photos of the new railway which is Africa's first modern electrified railway in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Oct. 1, 2016. The Chinese-built railway linking the Ethiopian capital and the port of Djibouti is expected to help the landlocked African country improve access to the sea and speed up a burgeoning industrialization process. The railway, which is set to become fully operational on Oct. 5, will be Africa's first modern electrified railway. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

Ethiopian attendants receive training at a railway station in suburban Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Oct. 1, 2016. A Chinese-built railway linking the Ethiopian capital and the port of Djibouti is expected to help the landlocked African country improve access to the sea and speed up a burgeoning industrialization process. The railway, which is set to become fully operational on Oct. 5, will be Africa's first modern electrified railway. (Xinhua/Li Baishun)